The Stranger
by gerrard01
Summary: When a strange man arrives to Camelot, Merlin's life will change forever. Who is this man? What does he want? Set post season 4. There will be some Mergana further ahead in the story.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:** Ok, here I go, first fan fic ever. First of all, while I double and triple checked most of the text, English isn't my first language so if anything is misspelled or sounds wrong please tell me =D. Rated T mostly so they can swear. Any feedback would be appreciated._

_I hope you like it !_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin._

_EDIT: Changed a few things, added others, nothing very important plot-wise._

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**The Stranger**

As the sun rose, a new day began.

In the court physician's quarters Merlin was getting ready to do his everyday chores (pick up herbs, polish Arthur's armor, save the kingdom, the usual).

In the king's bedroom Gwen was trying to wake up Arthur, but he just turned around and mumbled something that sounded very much like "five more minutes".

In a hovel not so far away from the castle Morgana was devising a foolproof plan that would finally let her take control of Camelot, and occupy her rightful place on the throne (spoiler alert: it wouldn't work).

And on the road to the kingdom there was a horse.

It was white and had four legs, one head and one tail; there was nothing unusual about it.

You couldn't say the same about its rider.

Those who saw him passing by would think that he was some noble, dressed in fine clothes, probably going to some feast in Camelot.

However, those who actually paid attention would realize that his clothes didn't show any family sigil; that he was traveling without the servants on whom most nobles depend to do the simplest of tasks; that under his cloak two swords shone with colors no metal could ever produce; and that in his eyes you could see the wisdom and the exhaustion of someone that had gone through more things than any noble will ever experience.

Lucky for him no one paid attention.

He could already see the castle of Camelot when _that_ thought came back to his mind, the same thought that he had again and again since he first learned about him: _Who would be so stupid to pretend to be me?._

It had been almost two months since the day he found out about the impostor, and after a not-so-long investigation he finally tracked him back to Camelot; soon he would have his answers.

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It wasn't long until he reached the city gates. He left his horse in the stables and started to make his way towards the Citadel. He saw the townsfolk getting ready for their daily lives, and they seemed happy, but at the same time he could see that they had some rough times recently. Some memories started to come back to him, but he pushed them back; this was neither the time nor place for that. Looking around he saw that many buildings were hastily repaired and other lay in ruins. This wasn't result of some small grudge between kingdoms; this was caused by a full-scale siege.

"Look out!"

The scream brought him back to reality and he saw a wagon full of crops that was heading out of control right towards a kid standing still in the middle of the road.

With no time to think his eyes glowed gold and the wagon slowed down enough for him to run to the boy and pull him out of its way.

"Kid, are you all right?" asked the man.

And as the boy looked up at him he realized that the buildings weren't the only things that were broken in the siege. The kid had a burn scar that covered most of the right side of his face and both his eyes; he was blind. Memories started to rise again.

"KEVIN!" A woman was running towards them from the other side of the road, and the second that she screamed his name the boy started running towards her voice. She hugged him tightly, looked at the stranger on the other side on the road and thanked him many times. She thought about giving him some food or water, but his fine clothes showed that he couldn't possibly need anything she had to offer, so she just thanked him again and took his boy home.

Yes, this place has suffered much. He couldn't help remembering the last time he was here, before the so-called 'Great Purge', when magical and non-magical people walked the streets as equals; good times now gone because of the doings of a mad king. The wound was dealt, and now that the mad king himself is gone they could only wait for it to heal…, or for Camelot to die.

Shaking those thoughts out of his mind he reminded himself why he was there for. He needed information, and so it was time to pay a visit to an old friend.

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The court physician's quarters were empty, but he was surprised at how well stocked this magic-fearing kingdom was. Almost all the herbs could be used in potions, but, as far as he knew, some of them had no application outside magic, and they were fairly rare. Maybe Gaius wasn't so blindly loyal to his king after all.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

The man turned around to face the owner of the voice. Standing by the door he saw a raven haired boy carrying lots of herbs.

"Kid!" he said while showing a smile, "do you know where I can find Gaius?"

KID!? He was a men in his mid twenties destined to be the most powerful warlock on earth and this stranger just called him kid! He looked the man for a second time. He was a tall man around thirty with short and untidy black hair, his smile was goofy but his eyes black as night looked as those of someone older, tired. One look at the stranger's clothes was all it took for him to realize that he was wealthy, but he had met his fair share of rich people and the stranger didn't feel like one of them. There was something fishy here, and he would find out what.

"What's your business with him?"

"I'm an old friend of him and wanted to catch up." He could feel something very familiar about this boy, but it couldn't be, not here, not in Camelot. "And you are?"

"I'm Merlin, Gaius apprentice. Unfortunately he isn't in Camelot right now." He didn't want to say much, but he could see that the stranger was expecting a longer answer. "He went to help a village that was struck with an illness."

"I'm sorry to hear that, I really needed to talk to him." He looked again at Merlin and wondered if he could trust him. He had to be someone especial if Gaius was training him. Anyway, what could he lose? "Maybe you can help me," he said while pointing at Merlin.

"Me?" Merlin asked, confused.

"Yes, I'm looking a man that's been pretending to be me. A fool that's using my name for what I can only suspect is some kind of plan to destroy my reputation by blaming me for his crimes against Camelot."

"And what's his… I mean… your name?"

The man made a big grin; he always liked to introduce himself. "You have the honor to be in the presence of the astonishing, the amazing …"

And when the man said his name Merlin froze, for it was a name he knew far too well …

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**"… DRAGOON THE GREAT!"**

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_**A/N:** Ok, so ... i hope that i left enough space so that you didn't read the name before reaching the last line, i was thinking of putting it in a separated chapter but it was a bit too much; also i hope that you liked the idea, i have the basics of the story and certain events in it, but i'm still working on a good ending._

_Thank you for reading, and again, any feedback would be appreciated._


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews, favs and follows =D._

_Ok, so, fast update because I wanted to give some closure to the events of the first chapter._

_Longer chapter! Enjoy!_

_EDIT: Really little changes._

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**Chapter 2**

_No. Freaking. Way._

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"Kid, are you all right?" asked Dragoon while he waved his hand in front of Merlin's face.

Merlin snapped out of it and realized that he had been standing there looking at him for a full minute. "Yes, sorry, I just …, just …" _just WHAT!?_

"I have to tell you," Dragoon said still showing a smile, "I know that I'm awesome and all, but yours was the most exaggerated reaction I have ever seen."

It took Merlin a little while to understand what he was talking about. "What? … Oh … Yes … Yes, I couldn't believe you were here, right in front of me." _This is not happening …_

"So …" Dragoon said expecting an answer.

"So what?" Merlin still didn't grasp what was going on.

"Do you know anything about the man that's been pretending to be me?" Dragoon asked as if the question was obvious.

"Emm …" _What to do, what to do, what to do?_ "What are you going to do to him if you find him?"

"When I find him," corrected Dragoon showing a grin that caused Merlin to swallow. "First of all I'm going to find out what grudge does he hold against me, and after that I'm going to make him pay in full. Don't worry kid," he added seeing the concern in Merlin's face, "I won't kill him or anything like that, I'm just going to make sure that he learns his lesson."

Merlin didn't know what to do. He didn't want to tell him the truth, but if he didn't Dragoon would just keep asking around town, and the fact that the old Dragoon wasn't real might raise questions better left unasked. Maybe he could make him desist from this search …

"Do you know he is a very powerful sorcerer?"

Dragoon just laughed. "Let me worry about that; now, do you know anything about him or not?"

Merlin was running out of options. He could send him the wrong way but that would only buy him some time, and then Dragoon would know that he had deceived him. Merlin really didn't want to use his magic, but a tiny forgetting spell could make both of their lives so much easier that was stupid not to do it. He raised his hand and started to cast the spell, but was suddenly interrupted when Dragoon's eyes glowed gold and he was blasted across the room.

"Now, now, kid, that's not very respectful of you, I'm very fond of my memories; some of them at least," said Dragoon while walking towards the corner where Merlin landed.

His head hurt like hell. He looked up and saw Dragoon with his hand raised towards him. It was too late to stop him now; he closed his eyes and embraced himself for whatever spell was about to hit him. Nothing happened. He looked again and saw that Dragoon was offering his hand to help him stand up. What the hell was happening there!? "You are a sorcerer!" Merlin yelled.

Dragoon laughed again. "You really have no clue who I am, do you?" he asked and saw as Merlin shook his head. "Well, I guess that's to be expected in Camelot," he said trying to hide his disappointment. "Come on kid, take my hand, you have some explaining to do."

Merlin took his hand and stood up. Who the hell was this man? He had just lied to him and tried to erase part of his memories, and he just laughed and helped him, fact that made him feel worse about using the spell in the first place. "I'm really sorry," he said, "I didn´t know you had magic too". That was a lousy excuse.

"That's a really lousy excuse!" replied Dragoon, "and besides, my name is Dragoon the Great after all, didn't that give some sort of clue?" he asked in amusement.

"Yeah …" Merlin said, "you may have a point there, but in my defense this is Camelot, most sorcerers try to avoid it; well, except when they are trying to destroy it, or kill Arthur, or seize power, or kidnap someone …" Merlin kept counting in his head. "It's a long list."

"So, what are _you_ doing here?" asked Dragoon.

Merlin wondered if he could trust this man. "Just learning how to be a physician" he lied.

"Sure …, come on kid, let's sit down," said Dragoon as he walked towards the table. When they both were seated, he turned serious and looked directly at Merlin. "So, judging from what you just did and the fact that you have magic I gather that you know the impostor and you are protecting him, is that correct?"

Merlin knew that it wasn't a question. "Yes," he said.

Dragoon showed a little smile. "Good, now, as I said before, as long as he has a good explanation and promises not to do it again he should be fine." He paused for a second. "However, if his intentions are to harm me, or to harm innocent people using my name, then this is not going to be a good day to be him." Dragoon took a deep breath and continued "So please kid, make both of our lives much easier and just tell me what you know about him."

So Dragoon cared about innocent people and said please, he couldn't be that bad; Merlin knew that he would have to tell him the truth sooner or later. He chose sooner. Merlin stood up and started pacing. "Ok, I'll tell you, but just so you know, I'm King Arthur's personal manservant, so if anything happens to me he'll send TEN THOUSAND soldiers after you, and also Gaius will be very sad because I'm like a son to him, and also …, also …" He smiled at the irony before adding "You will never learn of my plan!"

"What plan?" asked Dragoon.

"Exactly! That's why you can't kill me!"

Dragoon waited long enough to make sure that Merlin had stop rambling. "Kid, I've already told you; killing is not my style." _Not anymore at least …_ "You can tell me."

Merlin sat back down. "It's me," he said, "I'm the one that's been pretending to be you; but I didn't know that you existed! I just needed a secret identity and yours was the first name I could think of!"

"Do you know how far-fetched that sound?" asked Dragoon. "And besides, the one I'm looking for is an old man, so stop lying."

"I'm not lying!" replied Merlin. "I used an ageing spell so that the people of Camelot wouldn't recognize me."

Dragoon chuckled as if Merlin just told him a joke. "Come on kid! You can't be more than twenty years old, there is no way that you could use an ageing spell, let alone reverse it, you would have to be freaking Emrys to do something like that at your age, so please, stop lying to me!"

Merlin looked at him and sighed. "I am," he said.

"You are what? Lying? I already know that!"

"No, not lying …, the other thing." Merlin wondered how long would it take for him to understand what he meant.

"What other th_—_" Dragoon's eyes opened wide and he looked straight to Merlin. "No …" he said while a smile started to appear in his face. "No way!"

"Yes way," Merlin replied.

"Prove it," said Dragoon daring him.

"How?"

"I don't know, use the ageing spell."

Merlin thought about the potion that he needed to undo the spell; luckily Gaius had left him one of them to use "only in case of an emergency", which this certainly was. He closed his eyes. "**Miht dagan, beþecce me. Adeadaþ þisne gast min freondum ond min feondum**". And with that Merlin disappeared and an old man stood in his place.

Dragoon jumped out of his seat. "Incredible, you really are him!"

"I'm glad you are convinced" said old Merlin. "Now if you excuse me I have to undo this spell before someone else sees me."

Dragoon watched as Merlin went (really slowly) to the other side of the room and grabbed a potion. "Why not use your magic?" he asked. Merlin didn't answer but Dragoon could see he was ashamed; it didn't take long for him to understand what was going on. "Ohh, you can't reverse the spell on your own, can you?" Merlin shook his head. "Don't worry kid!, you are still young, you'll have plenty of time to practice, but there is no need to waste a perfectly good potion." Dragoon approached him and raised his hand. "**Edniwe hine geoguð**" was all he said, and with that the old Merlin was gone. "I told you I was amazing," he added in response to Merlin's astonished look.

"How did you do that!?" asked Merlin while he touched his face to make sure everything was in the right place.

"Magic …" answered Dragoon. "I thought we already covered that."

"Yes, I know …, but, I mean, you aren't that much older than me, and I'm supposed to be the most powerful sorcerer in history, and still you did that like it was the easiest thing in the world" protested Merlin. The first time he had failed to make that spell work he felt betrayed, he wasn't used to his magic not being strong enough; and since that day every time he tried unsuccessfully to use that spell he remembered that feeling. The fact that this sorcerer made it seem so easy only added fuel to the fire.

Dragoon was starting to answer when the door suddenly opened, and a blonde young man burst into the room.

"MERLIN!, there you are, I've been looking all over the city for you! How do you expect me to get ready for the feast if my manservant is nowhere to be found?" Arthur gave him a closer look. "You forgot, didn't you?"

Yes, yes he did. "No, of course not, it's just that I had an unexpected visit and I just lost track of time," said Merlin pointing at Dragoon.

With all the rush Arthur hadn't noticed that there was someone else in the room. "Well Merlin, aren't you going to introduce us?" he said.

"Oh, Yes, Arthur this is … my uncle … Drake" _What is it with me and dragon-like names?_ " … uncle this is Arthur"

Arthur stared at Merlin and cleared his throat.

"Oh, yes, sorry, this is Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot" Merlin knew that he should have stopped right there, but he couldn't help it. "He's the greatest swordsman alive, his enemies tremble at the sound of his name, men want to be him and women want to be with him; and the skies … "

"Merlin …" interrupted Arthur.

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

Dragoon couldn't believe what he was seeing. "So you were telling the truth about being the King's manservant," he said surprised. "How did THAT happened?"

"Well …" said Arthur, "he saved my life once and now I'm stuck with him for the rest of my life; but I guess it's not all bad, he's very efficient, he's a good company to have in my journeys, and sometimes you could swear that there is a wise man trapped inside his body, illusion that of course goes away the second he opens his mouth again."

Dragoon laughed slightly at that last comment, but he stopped when he realized something Arthur had said. "So, you take your manservant with you on your travels?" asked Dragoon confused.

"I do, but don't you worry, every time there is some kind of danger he disappears and doesn't show up again until it's gone," said Arthur in a scolding tone.

"I bet he does," Dragoon said while showing a smile. "Well sire, it is an honor to meet you; I've heard much about you"

"All good I hope," said Arthur before remembering why was he there for. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to need to borrow Merlin for a while"

"That's ok, we'll catch up later." Dragoon looked at Merlin and added "Don't worry nephew, I think I'll stay in Camelot for a while."

Merlin just nodded and he and Arthur left the room.

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"Merlin, how come you have an uncle?" asked Arthur as they walked towards his bedroom.

"Well you see, a long time ago my grandfather and grandmother loved each other very much, so they …"

"STOP!" yelled Arthur. "You know what I meant, why haven't I met him before?"

"Well, he and my mother had a really big fight a long time ago so they stopped talking to each other; in fact if you ask my mother she would probably tell you that he doesn't even exist." Merlin hated the fact that lying had become part of his everyday life, but what was he going to do? Every time the right moment to tell the truth was close something happened and pushed it away.

"And what is he doing here?" asked Arthur.

"Arthur, what's with all the questions?" inquired Merlin.

"Look Merlin, your uncle that you haven't seen in many years and has a quarrel with your mother just appeared in Camelot out of the blue; if I have learned something from these past months it's that his behavior is at least suspicious," said Arthur remembering about Agravaine's betrayal.

Merlin knew what he was thinking. "Thank you, really, but I can take care of myself," he replied.

"Ok then, but be careful; have I already told you how hard is to find a good servant these days?" asked Arthur.

"You have."

"Good; now let's get ready for this feast, shall we?"

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Back in the court physician's quarters Dragoon was staring at the door. When he first decided to go looking for this impostor he didn't do it to seek revenge or to protect his reputation. No, the reason was a lot simpler; he was bored. Now he had found the great Emrys. In Camelot. Working as the manservant of the King. Without him knowing who he really was. Dragoon smiled as a single thought popped into his head: _This is going to be fun._

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_**A/N:** I hope you liked it!, I wanted to get this chapter out ASAP because the first one ended in a big cliffhanger, however now I have some exams coming up so I will take a bit longer to publish the next chapter (hopefully not too long). The good news is that after that I'm free for a while so I should have plenty time._

_Thank you for reading and any feedback would be appreciated =D._

_**SPELLS:**  
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_**Miht dagan, beþecce me. Adeadaþ þisne gast min freondum ond min feondum** = Power of the days, conceal me. This spirit becomes torpid and callous to my friends and enemies.  
_

_**Edniwe hine geoguð!** = Restore his youth!  
_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews, favorites and follows =D_

_I've revised some rules on spacing and punctuation so I can make the dialogs more legible, hope that works XD (I also updated the old dialogs)_

_Story wise I'm going to be using some events from season 5, but they won't happen exactly the same way._

_Enjoy!_

_EDIT: If you see something different about the prophecy talk... a wizard did it._

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**Chapter 3**

Merlin was lying on his bed staring at the window, thinking about the day before, while around him Arthur's armor was being cleaned and polished by invisible hands. He knew that Gaius didn't approve him using his magic like that, but he was to be away for another day, and there were some battle leftovers on that armor that he really, really didn't want to touch. His mind went back to Dragoon. What were the chances of him choosing a name that was already in use? And by a very powerful sorcerer out of all people! (Although to be fair it's not like there are many farmer named Dragoon the Great). Merlin wondered what Dragoon would do now that he knew who he truly was; somewhat he had a feeling he would find out soon enough.

"So, this is how the great Emrys uses his magic …" said a voice behind him.

Merlin jumped out of his bed and turn around only to see Dragoon standing in the corner of his room. He was starting to reply when a loud sound of metal hitting the ground filled the room; Arthur's armor was scattered all over the place. Merlin cursed silently and looked back at Dragoon. "What are you doing here?"

Dragoon made a little smile. "Can't your _uncle Drake_ just pay you a visit?" he asked, putting special emphasis on the name.

"Yeah, sorry about that, but Arthur hasn't accepted magic yet; I couldn't tell him who you really were," Merlin explained.

Dragoon noticed Merlin's choice of wording, but decided to not comment on it just yet. "I know that, but why tell him that I'm your uncle? Wouldn't have been easier to introduce myself as a friend of Gaius?"

"I thought about it, but you having magic reminded me that every friend of Gaius turns out to be a sorcerer, and Arthur has his bright days, so better not give him any clues," said Merlin, while reaching for the nearest piece of armor.

Dragoon pondered about that for a second. "I guess you're right; you are good at this lying business!"

Merlin froze for an instant, that wasn't something he was proud of. "I have a lot of practice," he said, unsuccessfully trying to hide the sadness in his voice.

"Kid, I'm s_—_"

"And besides," interrupted Merlin, "if anything goes wrong I can always say that you enchanted me into believing you were my uncle and I'm off the hook."

Dragoon laughed. "I'm hurt kid, and here I thought we were starting to trust each other." He picked up the last piece of armor and he handed it over to Merlin, who thanked him and made sure that it wasn't broken. Dragoon looked at him, he still couldn't believe he had unintentionally found Emrys, but here he was, cleaning the King's armor; Dragoon needed to know what was going on here. "Kid, do you mind if ask you a few questions?"

"About?"

"You …, Arthur …, Camelot …, I'm just trying to understand some things."

Merlin knew that he shouldn't be spilling his secrets to anyone who asked, but for some strange reason he actually trusted Dragoon. "Ask away."

"Thanks." Dragoon conjured two chairs out of thin air, sat in one of them and signaled Merlin to sit in the other one. "First of all, if you are Emrys then I take that means that Arthur is the so called Once and Future King, right?" Merlin looked surprised but he still nodded. "I've done some research," explained Dragoon. "So, is Arthur's relationship with magic the same as his father's?"

"No, not really, but the fact that Uther was always talking ill of magic, and that sorcerers keep attacking Camelot make hard for him to see that magic can be used also for good."

"And do you hope that someday that will change?"

Merlin thought about all he had done trying to accomplish that, the lies he said, the people he killed, the friends he betrayed; he couldn't stand the thought of all that being for nothing. "It has to," he sharply said.

Dragoon noticed that Merlin sounded like someone who had invested a lot into something that hadn't paid off yet; obviously that wasn't an easy topic for Merlin so he decided to change it. "Kid, tell me, how did you learn Magic?"

"I didn't, I was born with it," Merlin said with a grin.

Dragoon looked surprised. "Are you telling me you can use any spell without having to learn it?"

"Not all the spells," clarified Merlin, "mostly the instinctive ones, like moving objects or slowing time; the others spells I've learned reading a spell book Gaius gave me."

"Gaius is a great sorcerer, you should be glad of having him as a teacher."

"Well, he gives me the books but he doesn't actually teach me magic." Merlin could see the confusion in Dragoon's face. "When the Great Purge happened he promised Uther not to do magic and he tries to fulfill that promise as much as possible."

Dragoon was a little disappointed. "I knew that, but with you being here I thought that it was just a façade; so, Gaius is still loyal to a crazy man that's already dead …" Dragoon said to himself trying to think what to make of it. He looked at the window for a few seconds. "I guess that at some level it's admirable; stupid, but admirable." He looked back at Merlin. "Are you telling me that you don't have a teacher?"

"Yes, I am a self-learner."

"Do you want one?" asked Dragoon, raising his eyebrows.

Merlin froze, staring right at him. "You!?"

"_Ouch_; yes me."

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that, it's just that it was … unexpected, I mean, you did come to Camelot to kill m_—_, sorry, punish me, and now you are here offering to help me."

"Well, what can I say, I changed my mind; and besides I said that I was going to teach you a lesson, which kind of applies both ways." Dragoon laughed a bit at his own joke. "So, what do you think?"

One of the main reasons for Merlin to come to Camelot was to learn more about sorcery, but when he saw a man being beheaded just for having magic he understood the extent of the hatred that this kingdom held towards it. His hopes were crushed until Gaius gave him his spell book, which proved useful for a few years, but now he had long learned everything that book could teach him. There was nothing to think, he extended his hand to Dragoon. "I'm in."

"Great!" Dragoon said, shaking Merlin's hand, "then I'll meet you outside Camelot at nightfall for our first lesson."

Merlin saw as Dragoon stood up and started to leave the room. "Didn't you want to ask me more questions?"

"There will be time for that, now I have some things to get ready for tonight," said Dragoon walking towards the door. When he was already in the other room he turned around and asked "You do know that you are immortal, right?"

Merlin just stayed there without saying a word.

Dragoon smiled and closed the door.

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As always Merlin didn't have any problem getting out of the city, some day he would have to talk to Arthur about the security, but for the moment that was really useful for his magic escapades. He could see Dragoon waiting for him next to a tree.

"Follow me kid," he told him.

"Where are we going?" Merlin asked.

"To the forest, I found us a spot where we can practice without being disturbed."

Merlin followed him for a little while before he couldn't hold the question any more. "So, what's that about me being immortal?"

"Well, that's what Emrys means, I thought you knew."

"Obviously I didn't; does that mean I can't be killed? Because that would be really useful right now …"

"No living man can be truly immortal; the bond you have with magic will heal you enough to prevent you from aging past a point, but it has its limits, a fatal wound will still mean death."

Merlin was in deep thought. "It's a lot to take," he said.

"I know, but I promise you that this will get your mind off that." He went into some bushes and signaled Merlin to follow. "We are here."

Merlin almost laughed when the place turned out to be the clearing he used to talk to Kilgharrah. The moment Merlin entered the clearing he felt a surge of energy rush trough his body. "What just happened?" he asked.

"Don't worry," answered Dragoon, "I just blocked your magic for a little while, which bring us to lesson number one …"

"You did WHAT!?"

"Sword fighting!" continued Dragoon ignoring Merlin's question. He picked up two swords that were on the ground and tossed one of them to Merlin, who caught it mid-air. Dragoon started attacking Merlin slowly. "Many powerful sorcerers tend to rely completely on their magic; however there are at least thirty two known ways of blocking someone's magic, involving anything from enchanted amulets to bunnies." Dragon took advantage of Merlin's confusion and tried to attack from above, but he blocked it. "Don't ask," Dragoon said.

Merlin step away from him. "So we have to learn how to defend ourselves without magic, I get it, but you could just told me not to use it, you didn't have to block it!"

"Could I? You said it yourself, your magic is instinctive; you would have slowed down time without even thinking about it." Dragoon attacked Merlin again but every time he tried to deal a blow sword clashed into Merlin's. "You know kid, you are a lot better than I expected."

"I always watch Arthur train, and even sometimes I'm his training dummy; I was bound to learn something."

"Well, come on then, let's see what you got!"

They both rushed towards each other with their swords held high.

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Dragoon didn't know exactly how long they had been training, but both of them were lying back on the ground trying to catch their breath. "That was some good fighting kid!" Dragoon said.

"Thanks."

"Your magic should have come back by now, try something." Merlin mumbled a few words and a sphere of water appeared out of nowhere and headed straight to Dragoon. He threw a fireball at it, but the water sphere just split in two, dodged the fireball and hit him in the face. "_Very funny,_" he said sarcastically.

Merlin laughed. "I owed you one," he said.

"You did." Dragoon stood up slowly, he looked at the sky and then back at Merlin. "We should be heading back in a little while, and since you did so well I'm going to answer you one question about magic."

"Just one?"

"For today, yes; I've learned that the fewer questions you get to ask the better they are, and honestly I don't like to answer silly questions."

Merlin pondered what he should ask, but when a question came to his mind he realized that it could have never been any other. "How much trust should I put in prophecies?"

"That is actually a good question; you know for a second there I thought you would ask me for a spell to clean armor instantly."

"You can do that!?" asked Merlin with wide eyes.

"Focus kid; prophecies are no simple matter, many sorcerers were doomed by believing too much or too little in some of them."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, this is something not everyone agrees on, but I like to say that there are three kinds of prophecies: the avoidable ones, the unavoidable ones, and the self-fulfilling ones. The avoidable prophecies are the most basic ones, you see something that you can change if you try; you could say that these are the most easy to understand. Then we have the unavoidable prophecies, these are rare but they do exist, basically you see something that you can't change no matter what you do. Last but not least we have the self-fulfilling prophecies, which I like to call the seers' bane; in these the things that you do to prevent the prophecy from happening are what actually make it happen; in other words, if the seer hadn't seen it, it wouldn't happen." Dragoon gave Merlin a little while to take in what he just said.

"And how do you know which is which?" Merlin asked.

Dragoon smiled. "That's the catch kid, you can't."

"So what's the point of a vision if you can't trust what you see?"

"As I said not everyone agrees with my point of view, many seers believe blindly that their visions are going to happen unless they do something about it, which I guess is understandable because while sorcerers like us just hear about the prophecies, seers live them; to them that future is as real as this present is for us."

"Actually, I had a vision once," said Merlin.

"Really? How?" asked Dragoon.

"It happened in the Crystal Cave, have you heard of that place?"

"Oh yes," answered Dragoon, "the birthplace of magic, I've been there once, couldn't sleep for a week."

"I know the feeling," Merlin said.

"So, what did you see?"

Merlin thought about Morgana; he didn't want to talk about her. "It no longer matters," he said, "what I saw already happened, but it was just as you said, the things I did to prevent it from happening is what made it happen."

"I'm sorry kid," Dragoon said sincerely.

Merlin didn't answer; he just took a deep breath. "So, what do you do about prophecies then?"

"Personally I try to avoid them; I like to control my own destiny." He made a pause. "True, there are some prophecies that can be used for good, but they are hidden in a haystack of those who can't.

"Anyway, in case you can't avoid it the best thing to do is play it safe and cover all possibilities." Dragoon thought a good example. "For instance, let's say you see an old enemy of yours stabbing you in the back while you were wearing a red cloak. Now, you can't just go and try to kill him because what you saw may be a self-fulfilling prophecy, but on the other hand you can't just dismiss it because it may be one of the others. In this situation you would be wise to never wear red cloaks again and be extra cautious in case is an avoidable prophecy, and you should try to make some healing potions or to learn some healing spell in case is an unavoidable one so you can heal yourself after being stabbed.

"But honestly kid, in the end, I would choose what I think is right over what the prophecy tells me to do every time."

Merlin pondered about his words. "How do you know so much?" he asked.

He didn't say anything for a while. "Gaius is coming tomorrow, right?"

"Yes."

"Then tomorrow you'll know; right now we have to get going if you hope to have a good three hours sleep."

"Why can't you just tell me now?" Merlin asked.

"Because it wouldn't be as fun;" Dragoon said, smiling, "come on kid, get up."

Merlin wanted to know the answer, but getting some sleep sounded really good. He stood up and started following Dragoon back to Camelot, thinking about tomorrow.

* * *

_**A/N:** Hope you liked it!_

_Sorry if the talk about prophecies got too long, but someone should have told Merlin something like that a long time ago …_

_Thank you for reading and any feedback would be appreciated =D_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N:** I took a bit longer to update, but this is a longer chapter. Finally a bit more emotion in this one, let's see how it goes ..._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"… and then she turned back into a troll, but Uther was still enchanted so he didn't notice the difference; it was hilarious."

Dragoon laughed so hard he almost choked on his food. "What I would've given to see that!"

They were still laughing when an old man came through the door.

"Merlin, I'm home," he said.

Merlin stood up and hugged him. "Gaius!"

"My boy," Gaius said while hugging him back. He noticed a man standing in front of him. "Oh, I see you have a guest."

Dragoon gave him a little time before talking. "Come on Gaius, don't you recognize me?"

Gaius gave the stranger a second look. "I'm sorry, I don't."

Merlin stepped in. "Gaius, this is Dragoon the Great, the real one," he clarified.

"Merlin that can't be, he_—_" Gaius looked at Dragoon and froze. "That's impossible! You can't be him."

"And yet I am; do you want me to tell Merlin the story about you and the two mermaids?" Dragoon asked with a grin.

Gaius was startled. "No! That … that won't be necessary." He took a deep breath. "I can't believe it was true," he added cryptically.

Merlin saw as they shook hands. "So, is anyone going to tell me how did you two meet?" he asked.

Gaius was still looking at Dragoon with his eyes open. "I met him a long time ago in a magic academy, before the purge of course."

"Gaius, I didn't know that you used to teach magic!"

Gaius chuckled. "I didn't, he did … fifty years ago."

Merlin looked straight at Dragoon with wide eyes. "But, that would mean …"

Dragoon laughed at the look on his face. "See kid, I told you it would be funnier this way."

"You are immortal!" yelled Merlin.

"Like I already told you, no living can be truly immortal, but I've been around a long time."

"There were rumors about you, but I always thought they were only that," said Gaius. "How's this possible?"

"Well, I did promise you a story," Dragoon said looking at Merlin, "shall we sit?"

Merlin and Gaius sat facing Dragoon. "What do you know about the dragonlords?" he asked.

Merlin and Gaius looked at each other. "Not much," lied Merlin. Dragoon already knew that he was Emrys, and he seemed nice, but Merlin wanted to keep secret the fact that he was the last dragonlord a bit longer.

"Well, Gaius must already know, but a dragonlord is basically a sorcerer that can command dragons. Before the purge there were many dragonlords and dragons in these lands, but now they are all gone."

Merlin could sense the anger in those last words.

"However," continued Dragoon, "what few people know is how the dragonlords came to exist in the first place."

"You were there!?" asked Gaius surprised.

"I'm not _that_ old," answered Dragoon with a grin, "this is just a story I've been told.

"A long time ago the dragons realized that they were losing the ability to hatch their own eggs, they didn't know why, but after years trying to fix it most of them accepted that it was the end of their race. Nevertheless, one dragon proposed a radical idea, ¿what if they could give another race the power to hatch their eggs? Many dragons weren't happy about this, but they didn't have a choice, and after years of research they found that only one race was compatible with their powers, the humans.

"To make this possible they needed to merge part of a dragon's soul with the soul of a living man; the dragon would survive the process, but there was a problem, the time needed for the full merge of the souls was a lot longer than the human life span. So they choose a few men, seven most people thinks, and granted them the gift of the eternal life; they would never age, making it possible for them to live long enough to complete the merge. However this came with a price, for this ritual required the magic of the dragon that was giving part of his soul, and being a creature of magic, this meant death.

"The dragons fought about who should be the sacrifice, some said that it should be the weakest of them all for he brought shame to the race, others that it should be the oldest for he had lived long enough, others that it should be the youngest for he was the least wise. Finally, ashamed of his brothers' doings, the same dragon that proposed the idea volunteered himself as sacrifice, and when he died his magic filled the seven men, rendering them forever young, and marking them."

Dragoon raised his shirt showing a tattoo that went all around his arm; it was a dragon biting his own tail. Merlin could swear that he saw it move.

"This is the mark of Ouroboros," Dragoon explained, "named after the dragon that sacrificed himself so all the others could live. The mark isn't just a drawing, it's alive, it's what prevented the men from growing old, and what slowly gave them the ability to command dragons."

"So you are a dragonlord?" Merlin asked, staring at him incredulously.

"I am," answered Dragoon.

"But you told us that you weren't there, then why do you have that?"

"As I said the mark is alive, it can move from one person to another when its host commands it … or when he dies."

"So how did _you_ get it?" asked Merlin in an accusing tone.

"Come on kid! Have some faith in me; before I got this," said Dragoon pointing at the mark, "I was a simple man trying to get by. One day I was returning home and I saw an old man being attacked by a small group of what I thought were bandits. I managed to defeat them all, but in the process I suffered enough wounds to kill a man twice. I blacked out and the next thing I remember is waking up in the old man's house with this mark in my arm.

"He told me that those men were assassins trying to kill him and take the mark for themselves, he told me the story I just told you, and that giving me the mark was the only way to prevent my death. According to him, the first encounter between the mark and a new body causes a magic reaction that heals you of any wound or affliction, but after that the power of the magic is only enough to prevent you from aging."

"Wait," Merlin said, "how is possible for him to be an old man if he had the mark?"

"Good question, I asked him the same thing, he told me that while it can prevent you from aging past a point, it can't make you any younger that you already were when you got it.

"So, anyway, I was a simple man and suddenly I was going to live forever, the life I had wouldn't work anymore. Luckily I lived alone at that time so I just left everything behind and stayed with the old man as his apprentice. He was a sorcerer, as most mark's bearers are, and so he taught me the basics of magic. However he was old and a few years later he passed away. Since that day I've been traveling around the world learning new things, visiting new places and meeting new people."

"Amazing …" thought Merlin aloud.

"It is, but it gets a bit lonely after some time."

The three of them stayed there in silence for a while.

"So that's how you know so much about magic …" realized Merlin.

Dragoon smiled. "You know what they say, 'dragons know more from being old than from being dragons'." His eyes went to Gaius and back to Merlin. "Kid, do you mind letting us alone for a while? I actually wanted to catch up with him."

Merlin looked at Gaius as asking if he was fine with that and saw him nod. He just smiled and walked out the door.

"So, what are you doing here?" asked Gaius, "Camelot isn't the best place for a sorcerer like you."

"And is it for Emrys?" Dragoon asked and he saw the shock in Gaius' face. "Don't worry, his secret is safe with me; actually he is the reason I'm here, I came looking for the man that was pretending to be me, only to find that he didn't even know who I was. Why didn't you tell him that he was using the name of another sorcerer?"

"Well, when I learned that he was using your name it was already too late to change it, and since I thought you had died of old age I didn't bring it up." He paused for a second. " You know, it's … difficult for me to talk about those times after everything that happened."

"I understand, sometimes good memories just remind us of all we've lost," Dragoon said, giving him a sympathetic smile. "So, let's talk about Merlin …"

.

.

.

He still couldn't believe it; he wasn't the last dragonlord after all; and if that wasn't enough it also turned out that Dragoon was immortal. It was a lot to take. He turned around when he heard a familiar female voice calling his name.

"Merlin! I'm so glad to find you," she said.

"Gwen! Is everything all right?" he asked with concern in his voice.

"Yes, yes, don't worry; it's just that I was walking around the castle when I saw a servant trip and spill wine all over sir Leon, which instantly made me think of you," Gwen said showing a smile. "It's been a long time since we talked like we used to."

"Well, _my lady_, that's one of the side effects of becoming queen."

"That's exactly what I mean! I want to be the old Gwen for a little while." Gwen looked away as if remembering something, and then she looked back at Merlin. "You know, It's been a long time since I visited my father, and with Elyan always in some mission I keep postponing it; I was wondering if you would like to come with me, just the two of us."

Merlin looked down like he was disappointed. "So, I'm the second choice…"

"Come on Merlin, you know that isn't true!"

He grinned at her. "Relax Gwen, I'm joking, I would love to go, but are you sure we shouldn't bring some knights?"

"That would ruin the purpose of the trip, and besides, I know you are a lot stronger than you let people know; if anything should happen you would protect me."

"My lady, are you flirting with me?"

Gwen hit him in the shoulder. "Shut up Merlin," she said, trying to mimic Arthur's voice.

Merlin started laughing and she joined him. "So, when do you want to leave?"

"Now?" she asked, a smile on her face.

.

.

They were both standing next to Tom's grave. No one that looked at that grave would even begin to guess that it belonged to the queen's father, it was a simple grave, just a pile of rocks in the middle of a clearing. After they got married Arthur had asked Gwen if she wanted to move his father to a "better" grave, but she said no. That place had a special meaning for her family. She still remembered when her father used to bring her and her brother to that clearing and they spend the whole day just having fun; there was no better place for her father to rest in peace.

"He was a good man," Merlin said.

"He was a great father," added Gwen. She tried to say something but the words got stuck in her throat. She tried again. "Sometimes …, sometimes I wonder if he would hate me for marrying the son of the man that got him killed," she managed to get out and then burst into tears.

Merlin rushed over to her and hugged her. "Gwen, don't you _ever_ think that! Arthur is nothing like his father, you know that, _he_ knows that," said Merlin pointing at the grave. "And besides, he is your father, the thing he wants the most is for you to be happy, are you happy Gwen?"

"You know I am," she said, nodding.

"Then your father is too," Merlin told her in a reassuring voice.

"Thank you Merlin," she said returning the hug.

"What do we have here?" said a voice behind them.

They both turned around and saw a bandit standing there. _Give me a break_, thought Merlin. At least it was just one man. He drew his sword. "We have no quarrel with you, just keep walking."

The bandit looked past them. "Boys!, did you hear that?, he has no quarrel with us!"

Merlin turned again to see other four men coming from the other side of the clearing, they were trapped; he thought how Arthur could probably beat them all with a sword, but he was no Arthur, if they were going to get out alive of there he would have to use magic, and waiting for Gwen to fall unconscious wasn't a very solid plan. He held Gwen's hand and looked at her. "Gwen, you are my friend, and I love you, no matter what, you know that, right?"

To Gwen, Merlin's words sounded like a final goodbye, Gwen squeezed his hand. "I love you too," she said and tears started to pour out of her eyes.

Merlin smiled at her, let her hand go and faced the four men. "**Forþ fleoge!**" he yelled, throwing the bandits into the air. He turned to face the leader and he raised his sword just in time to block his attack. He tried to create some distance between them to cast a spell but the bandit didn't gave him any rest; Merlin changed plans and started attacking with his sword. Dragoon was right about one thing, he could see everything happen in slow motion; it wasn't long until his sword was piercing the bandit's chest.

He pulled out his sword and turned around to see if Gwen was all right. She was gone.

.

.

.

_This can't be true. It's all an illusion. I'm just having a nightmare_. The second Gwen saw Merlin using magic she started to run. She didn't know where she was going, but it didn't matter, she just had to get away from there. She could hear him yelling her name behind her, but she just kept running, that wasn't Merlin, magic had stolen him from her as it did with Morgana. It wasn't until the trees stopped moving that she realized she had tripped and fell. She heard her name again, he was getting closer, she had to get out of there, but when she tried to stand up, she felt a searing pain in her ankle and fell back to the ground.

"Gwen!" he said reaching for her.

"Get away from me!"

Merlin could see fear in her face, "Gwen, please, it´s me, it's just me."

"Why Merlin, why did you betray us like that?" tears falling down her face.

Merlin froze for an instant at that question. "I didn't betray you!"

"You learned magic! After seeing all it had done to us!"

"I didn't learn magic, I was born with it, but even if I wasn't I would have loved to learn it" He crouched next to her. "Gwen, magic isn't evil in itself, at least no more than a sword is, I've been using my magic for good since the day we met, I've saved yours and Arthur's lives countless times, I've even saved Uther's! Please Gwen, you have to believe me, you have to …" he said with pleading in his voice.

Gwen didn't know what to think. Can someone really be born with magic? All she knew was that Merlin was crying in front of her and she had to control the urge to hug him; she didn't see a sorcerer in front of her, she saw a friend who had helped her through the years. Something popped in mind. "Wait …, Arthur once told me that when I was in prison for allegedly using sorcery to heal my father you actually stood in front of the king and told him that it had been you, was that true?"

_Great, now I'm not just a sorcerer, I'm a sorcerer that almost got her killed_. "Yes, it was; I'm sorry about that, I just wanted to help and ended putting you through hell; I don't blame you if you hate me," he said, looking away.

Merlin almost jumped when Gwen embraced him. "Merlin, you saved my father! How could I hate you?"

Merlin was speechless. He just hugged her back and once the hugged ended he gave her one of his goofy smiles.

"So, you said you saved our lives countless times, give me an example."

Merlin paused to think for a second, "Do you remember when you were accused of using sorcery for the second time to enchant Arthur?"

"Of course I remember Merlin," she answered. How could she forget?

"Didn't' you find it strange that the sorcerer just happened to make him fall for the one person in all Camelot that he already loved? And that he was conveniently caught red-handed clearing you of all charges?"

"Honestly at the time I didn't think much about that, I was just happy to be free. Was he a friend of yours?" she asked surprised.

Merlin grinned. "Try again," he said.

Gwen knew that grin; it was his 'I just did something naughty' grin, which in this case could only mean one thing. "You!?"

Merlin nodded, his eyebrows raised.

"How is that possible? Arthur told me he was an old man."

"Magic …" he answered, smiling.

"Oh, right." She felt dumb for asking that. "So, why did you enchant us?"

At that Merlin burst into laughter. "Gwen, there wasn't any enchantment."

Gwen was trying to put two and two together. "Then who placed the poultice under my pillow?"

"Who do you think?" Merlin asked with a sad tone in his voice.

"Morgana …" she realized out loud. It took some time before she talked again. "Merlin, what happened to her? I thought magic had corrupted her, but here you are proving me wrong; why did she do all those horrible things?"

"That's a question I ask myself all too often; imagine being Uther's ward and suddenly realizing that you had magic, she was afraid and that fear drove her to make some bad decisions. It was all downward from there, I tried to help her, but I couldn't tell her about my magic; I still wonder what would have happened if I did."

"Why couldn't you?" she inquired.

"I was warned against it by Gaius and … one other." Merlin couldn't tell her about the Great Dragon, not after he attacked Camelot, maybe someday in the future.

Gwen saw the look in Merlin's face. "You can't blame yourself for what she did Merlin, she made her own decisions."

"I know, but even so, I wished I trusted her a bit more, I owed her that much." Merlin couldn't bear to keep talking about that. "Well, come on then, time to go back to Camelot before Arthur sends an army after us."

Gwen tried to stand up but the pain reminded her about her ankle.

Merlin caught her right before she hit the ground. "Gwen, are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm sorry; with all the talk I forgot I had twisted my ankle."

"May I?" asked Merlin pointing at her ankle.

She had a moment of doubt but then she nodded. Merlin placed her slowly on the ground and pointed his palms to her ankle. Gwen could hear some strange words coming out of his mouth and after that the pain was gone. "Merlin that's incredible!" she said while standing up.

"It's nice to have someone appreciate what I do for a change."

Gwen realized how difficult had to be for Merlin to live hiding his magic from everyone. "Who else know about you?"

"Of the people you know just Gaius and my mother of course." He made a pause. "Lancelot did too."

Merlin could see her face reacting to the name. "Did you have something to do with bringing him back?" she asked.

Merlin grabbed her hand. "I'm sorry Gwen, but that wasn't the same Lancelot; it's a long story, come on, I'll tell you everything in the way back."

.

.

.

He told her everything about that Lancelot, how he had been a shade, how he had worked for Morgana, how he suspected that somehow had enchanted her, how he had become the old Lancelot for a second before dying.

Gwen was crying for a long time now. "Morgana really hates us, doesn't she?"

Merlin didn't know how to answer that. "I'm sorry Gwen."

For a while the only sound was the hooves of horses on the ground.

"Gwen," said Merlin, breaking the silence, "I need to ask you a big favor."

Gwen already guessed what he would ask. "Don't tell Arthur?"

"Yes. I'm sorry Gwen, I don't want to put you in this position, but I can only protect him if he is not trying to run me with his sword," he said, trying to lighten the mood.

"I'll keep your secret Merlin, for a while, but do you really think that Arthur would do that?"

"I hope not, but right now I can't take that chance."

Gwen gave him one of her 'I understand' smiles. "Alright then powerful sorcerer, let's see if you can beat me back to Camelot," she said, challenging him, and her horse started galloping away.

"Hey, that's cheating!" he yelled, before he started following and they both disappeared into the horizon.

* * *

_**A/N:** Dragoon's story (but not all of it, muahahaha) and magic reveal in the same chapter! I need to put more fillers XD_

_So, I hope you liked it and I need to ask you a favour: I need some reviews so at least I know I'm not barking up the wrong tree :p_

_Thank you and happy holidays!_

_**SPELLS:**  
_

_**Forþ fleoge!** = Fly forth!  
_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: **__Thanks merlinlost, Aerist and SunnySmile1324 for the reviews =D._

_Again the longest chapter ever XD, but honestly I don't think I will make a chapter longer than this one (time will tell)._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 5**

"_I'm sorry my child, I can go no further."_

"_But father, we must go! They'll be here soon."_

"_And how will you ever outrun them if you have to take care of an old injured man?" he said, moving his hand towards the wound in his leg. "No. You must go alone and find Arthur, convince him to help us; he's Nemeth's only hope."_

"_Don't say that! I can't let you here alone!"_

"_You can and you will. It's your duty as princess my dear, and besides don't worry, I'll be here waiting for you to come back."_

_She knew that her father was right, together they would be captured and all hope would be lost, but even then, this was the single most difficult thing she ever had to do. She closed the distance between herself and her father and embraced him. "I love you father. I'll come back for you; I promise."_

"_I love you too Mithian. Now go, find Arthur and save us all."_

_._

_._

_._

She woke up. How long had she been asleep? The forest was still pitch black; it couldn't have been more than a few hours. She knew that the ones following her were resting as well, in that darkness you couldn't walk for a full minute without running into a tree. She touched her abdomen, the wound still hurt and she could feel the blood running through her fingers, but it didn't matter, she wouldn't let a little cut stop her. Not when she was so close.

In the horizon she could see the sky starting to lighten; it was time to start running again.

.

.

.

Damn it, they were good. She had tried to cover her tracks time and again, but somehow they always seemed to find her. She peeked around the tree and saw them standing next to the road, trying to figure out where she went; it was too risky to move now. Something popped into her mind and she took a second look. Weren't there six of them?

The second she heard the footsteps, she unsheathed her sword and swung it behind her, making a cut in one of her pursuers' arm.

"Bitch!" he yelled, touching his wound, "You'll pay for this!". He charged at her, sword raised.

She kept blocking his attacks, but she could feel herself getting weaker every time the swords clashed. She couldn't keep going like that much longer, but she wasn't going to go without a fight. She lurched forward, aiming her sword at his chest.

She was too slow. He dodged the attacked and punched her in the wound, making her drop the sword and fall to the ground.

"You know what? We have been told to bring you back alive if possible; well, I don't think it's possible, do you?" he asked with malice in his voice.

Mithian saw as his raised his sword and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry father," she whispered, tears running down her face.

The silence seemed to last forever, only to end with a metal on metal sound and a small gasp of pain. She had to think twice to realize that it hadn't come from her.

When she opened her eyes a man was standing between her and her pursuer. He was holding two swords, one blocking the incoming attack and the other piercing the man chest.

"You know kid, that's no way to treat a lady," he told him.

The man tried to answer, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was blood. He died not long after that.

She saw as her savior sheathed his swords and turned around. The man was not much older than her, and from the look of his clothes he was some kind of noble. She found herself looking into his eyes; they were the blackest black she had ever seen.

"Are you alright?" Dragoon asked, interrupting her thoughts.

She was starting to answer when some movement in the forest caught her attention.

Noticing the look on her face, he turned around while unsheathing both his swords. Five more men were walking towards them, swords in hand. "I don't think I can convince you to just turn around, can I?" he asked.

"Give us the girl and we'll promise to kill you quickly," one of them answered.

Dragoon grinned. "This will only take five minutes," he told her over his shoulder.

She couldn't believe he had said that, was he really that good? That question answered itself when he started fighting. She considered herself well-versed in sword fighting, but this was like nothing she had ever seen before; he moved fast, dodging almost every attack and deflecting the rest with one sword while attacking with the other, never letting them surround him. It was almost as if he was dancing. It was beautiful.

It didn't take long before he was the only man standing. Scattered around him five bodies laid on the ground. He hadn't lied to Merlin when he told him that killing was not his style, it's just that there were some exceptions; a maiden in distress was number three. He started walking towards her.

When he was close he watched as she suddenly grabbed her sword and hurled it at him— no, not at him, past him.

Quickly turning around he saw one of the men with two swords, one in his hands and another one in his chest. He grabbed the second one and finished him off.

Dragoon cleaned the sword and brought it back to her. "Nice throw!" he said, showing a grin.

"Thanks," she said with fatigue in her voice, "I think that make us even."

"Well, I don't know, I killed five of them and you killed just one, I think you still owe me some."

She wanted to make a clever remark, but that throw drained what was left of her energy. "Arthur … I need to see Arthur," it was all she got to say before passing out.

"Hey! What's wrong?" He kneeled beside her and tried to wake her up. Nothing. That's when he first noticed the wound.

Before, he had been amazed by her hurling the sword, but now, knowing that she had done it with an injury like that, he was utterly impressed. He placed his hands over the wound. **"****Ic þe þurhhæle þin licsare mid þam sundorcræftas þære ealdaþ æ!****"** He smiled at the gasp of comfort coming out of her lips.

"Now for the second part," he said aloud and lifted her into his arms. "**Bedyrne ús! Astýre ús þanonweard!**". A gust of wind enveloped them and they were gone.

He made a sigh of relief when the gust of wind dissipated and they were alone. He knew that it was risky to teleport directly into Merlin's room, but she looked very weak and his magic alone wasn't enough to make her better, she needed a doctor. He placed her slowly on the bed and went to find Gaius.

_Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen …_ Gaius was pouring drops of a blue liquid into a purple one when the sound of Merlin's door opening made him lose count. "Merlin! I thought you already left, Arthur is going to kill you if you keep being late," he said without looking away from the potion.

"Don't worry Gaius, he already left," said an unexpected voice.

Gaius jumped, almost throwing the potion, and he turned to face Dragoon. "What are you doing in there?"

"I need your help, I've found a girl in the woods who was being attacked, I don't know what happened to her but she lost a lot of blood."

"Alright, take me to her."

"She is in there," Dragoon said, pointing at Merlin's room.

Gaius looked at the main door. "How did she—" he interrupted his question and looked back at Dragoon, "You teleported both of you to Merlin's room!? That was very reckless, what were you thinking?"

"Come on Gaius, we can talk about that later, right now just help her, please."

"You are right, you are right, sorry."

Gaius went into Merlin's room and watched at the girl. She was facing away from him, her clothes covered in blood. He took her pulse; it was weak, but not alarming. Next he turned her head to check her breathing— "Mithian!" the doctor yelled.

"You know her?"

"Yes, her name is Mithian; she's the princess of Nemeth."

"She is a princess!?" Dragoon asked incredulously. "She certainly doesn't fight like one."

"Yes, she is one of a kind," Gaius said and started checking her abdomen. "Where did all the blood came from? I can't find any injuries."

"She had a big cut, I healed her."

"How?"

Dragoon just looked at him and raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, right, sorry ... Did she tell you what was she doing here?"

"Right before passing out she told me she had to speak with Arthur, but she didn't get to tell me why."

"Then we must warn him," Gaius said with concern in his face.

"I'll go tell him. Is she going to be alright?"

"Thanks to you, she will. I'll prepare a potion and with any luck she will be awake in a few hours. Now go, warn Arthur."

Dragoon gave her one last look and he started walking towards the king's quarters.

.

.

.

When he arrived the door was already opened and Arthur was signing some documents. He knocked the door anyway to get his attention. "Sire, may I come in?"

"Drake, how can I help you?"

"I must tell you something. This morning I was walking through the forest and I came across some men attacking a young woman. I managed to save her, but she fainted so I took her to Gaius." He could see that Arthur didn't understand what this was about. "Sir, he recognized her as Mithian, princess of Nemeth."

Arthur jumped out of the chair. "How is she?"

"She will be alright, but now she's still unconscious. Sire, the last thing she told me before she passed away was that she needed to speak to you."

"Something really bad must be happening in Nemeth for her to come here alone; I'll send some scouts immediately." He stared at the documents on the table for a moment and then back at Dragoon. "Thank you for saving her."

Dragoon just nodded his head and left the room.

Arthur's mind started to make up possible scenarios, but he shook those thoughts out of his head, there were things to do. He left the room and started looking for Gwen. Lately she had been spending more time than usual with one of the male servants, which would have made him jealous if it wasn't for the fact that this man was Merlin. He found them speaking on a balcony nearby.

"Guinevere!"

For a second she looked as if he had caught them red-handed. "Arthur," she said and gave him a small kiss.

"Were you two talking about me?" Arthur asked in an accusing tone.

"You know Arthur, the world doesn't revolve around you," Merlin said.

"Never mind, listen, I have some bad news, something happened in Nemeth; Drake found Mithian being attacked by some men near Camelot, Gaius is taking care of her now, but she is unconscious."

Gwen covered her mouth with her hands. "That's terrible!"

Arthur nodded. "Merlin, go ready a room for her to sleep in and find her a maid. Gwen, I think Mithian would want some new clothes when she wakes up, I was wondering if you could find something for her. I'm going to get ready a scout party to gather more information."

They just nodded and walked away.

.

.

.

She woke up to a familiar face.

"Hello my dear, it's nice to have you back with us."

"Gaius?" she asked with confusion in her voice. "Where am I?"

"You are safe, you are in Camelot," he answered with a reassuring voice.

Her memories were still a bit dizzy, but they started to come back to her. "There was a man in the forest …"

"Yes, he brought you here."

"Who is he?"

"Merlin's uncle."

"His Uncle? Isn't he a bit young to be his uncle?"

Gaius laughed inside his head. "Let's just say that there is a large age gap between him and Merlin's mother; but we can talk about him later, what are you doing here?"

That question brought her back to earth, making her jump out of bed and grab Gaius by the shoulders. "I must talk to Arthur! King Odin is attacking Nemeth!" Suddenly she realized that she should have been screaming in pain after that sudden movement; her hands went to the wound but found none. "Gaius, how did you cure my wound?" she asked.

His mind was still processing what she said first; he answered without thinking. "It wasn't me, it was Drake."

"Drake?"

His eyes widened when he realized what he just said. "Yes, that's the name of the man who saved you; he also happens to be a very good physician." Gaius scolded himself for his mistake. _Well, at least I didn't say his true name._

She knew that he was lying to her; no matter how good he was, her wound had been a deep one and it couldn't have just disappeared. She would deal with that later. She started to walk to the door.

"What are you doing?" Gaius asked.

"What does it look like? I need to speak to Arthur right now."

"My lady, you are very weak, you should rest some more; I can tell Arthur what you told me."

She trully was exhausted, but this was her duty as the king's daughter. "No, I need to do it myself; I'll rest afterwards."

"All right my dear, I know better than to argue with a princess; at least let me help you out," Gaius said and gently grabbed her arm to help her walk.

.

.

.

In the throne room, Arthur was listening a farmer talk about how his neighbor had stolen his cattle or something like that, he had gotten lost after the farmer started calling the animals by name; honestly, his mind wasn't in the room at that moment.

Suddenly the doors opened and Mithian entered the room helped by Gaius. He stood up and started walking towards them.

"What is she doing out of bed!?" He asked.

"I'm sorry sire, she insisted," Gaius explained.

She let Gaius go and went down on one knee. "Your highness, I have grave news, King Odin has raised a large army and he attacked Nemeth; my father and I got away, but he was badly injured and I had to leave him behind if I ever hoped to reach Camelot in time; he's hiding in some ruins near the border but I don't know how long he will last; please, _please_, you must help us."

He offered her a hand and helped her stand up. "And we will," he said firmly. He faced his knights. "Leon prepare the men, we leave tomorrow at first light."

"Yes sire," he replied.

"Thank you your highness," Mithian said with tears in her eyes.

"No need, Odin is probably attacking you just because you are our allies, the least we can do is show him exactly what that means. Now, you need to get some proper rest, we'll need you to come with us to show us the location of the ruins." He looked past her. "Gaius, could you show her to the guest quarters?"

"Of course, sire," he answered.

She nodded in thanks and started to follow Gaius out of the room.

.

.

.

It was already morning and Dragoon could see the men readying their horses. In the center of them, Arthur was talking to Merlin; he couldn't hear what they were saying, but for some reason Arthur hit Merlin in the head and Merlin just laughed; they had a really strange relationship. Dragoon was almost next to them when they first noticed him.

"Sire, I wish to go with you if you don't mind," Dragoon told Arthur.

"I could always use more men, but I can't take you if you are going to be a liability, are you any good with a sword?" he inquired.

"He single handed defeated five men, i think that speaks for itself," a voice behind them said.

They turned to find Mithian already on her horse.

"It's nice to see you awake, my lady," Dragoon said.

"It's only thanks to you, my lord."

"You are welcomed, but I'm not a lord."

"After this you should come back with me to Nemeth and we could remedy that." She blushed when she heard herself; she had meant to say that they would give him lands and make him a noble, but that had sounded almost like a marriage proposal. "I'm sorry, that didn't come out right," she added, trying to remedy the situation.

Dragoon chuckled. "It's fine my lady, don't worry."

"Alright then, he can come too," said Arthur, trying to change the subject, "but we are leaving now."

Not long after, a small army was leaving Camelot.

Mithian led her horse next to Dragoon's. "So, Drake is it?"

"That's what they call me."

"I never got to introduce myself properly; I'm Mithian, princess of the kingdom of Nemeth." She knew that by this point he probably already knew who she was, but she had always liked to introduce herself properly. "Gaius told me that I should also thank you for healing my wound."

_Way to keep a secret Gaius … _"What else did he tell you?" he asked with a smile.

"Just that you are a great physician; but it's strange, isn't it? There is absolutely no scar, no nothing; it's almost like … magic," she said, showing him a smirk. "You must be really, _really_ good."

"Oh, I am," he said, returning the smirk.

Some horses behind, Gwaine was approaching Merlin's horse.

"It seems to me that you are going to get a new aunt soon enough," he blurted out to Merlin.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, and watched as Gwaine nodded his head towards Mithian and Dragoon. "No! There is no way. No. Do you think so?"

"I've seen how they look at each other. Believe me mate, there is something there."

Merlin didn't get too much time to think about what Gwaine just said. A group of Camelot soldiers appeared from down the road and went straight to Arthur.

"Sire, we've found the ruins; there are some enemy scouts near it but we should be able to overpower them easily."

"Good," he said and then faced his men. "The first priority is rescuing the king, and we have a better chance of doing that if the enemy doesn't know we are here. Gwaine, Elyan, Percival and Merlin you are with me, our objective is to reach the ruins and grab the king undetected; Leon you stay behind with the men until you see us coming back, then we attack Odin with all of Camelot's might."

"I'm going too, he is my father!" Mithian protested.

"I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous, I can't risk something happening to you too."

She wasn't going to let him treat her like some weak girl. "I don't care. I'll go."

Arthur was thinking how to handle this situation, but his train of thought was interrupted by Dragoon.

"Sire, if I may, I could come along and act as her personal bodyguard," he said.

It was better than nothing. "Fine, but if anything happens you grab her and take her back here, understood?"

"Of course, sire."

.

.

.

They were already entering the ruins. As the lookout had said there were a few scouts outside but they weren't any challenge. Mithian rushed to the place where she had left her father only to find him lying still against the wall.

She ran towards him and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Father, father!" She saw as he started to open his eyes. Sleeping. He was just sleeping. "Father, I'm back," she said, hugging him.

"Mithian!" he hugged her back and looking past her he saw Arthur and a few other knights standing there. "I knew you could do it," he told her.

Arthur could see the king was not in good shape, the wound in his leg had obviously taken its toll. "Your highness, we have to get out of here, I don't know how long we have before Odin finds us," he told him, offering him a hand.

"Oh, but I already have," they heard a voice behind them say.

They turned only to find King Odin and many of his men coming from everywhere. Arthur and his knights tried to react, but the enemy had the element of surprise and soon all of them were at sword's point.

Odin started to walk towards Arthur. "Did you really think that I wouldn't find out about this place? Please, we found out he was here since day one, but I knew that his daughter was going to ask Camelot for help, and of course that Arthur himself would come." Odin unsheathed his sword. "You are going to pay for what you did to my son."

"How many times should we go over this!?" Arthur said. "He challenged me into a duel, I asked him to withdraw, he didn't. What did you want me to do!?"

"I don't care about your excuses. You die here today."

"So be it; but understand this Odin; you kill me, and you'll have all of Camelot to answer to."

"Camelot is nothing without its king."

Arthur made a small laugh. "Then you don't know anything about my knights. They will hunt you, they will find you, and they will not rest until they're done with you."

"I will deal with your knights soon enough; but now, your time has come."

He raised his sword, but just as he was going to strike, the floor began to tremble; while everyone had been distracted by Arthur's and Odin's conversation, Merlin had sneaked into one corner and casted an earthquake spell. With the floor moving like that it was impossible for anyone to move freely, let alone fight.

"Come on, let's go!" Merlin yelled, indicating the exit.

Taking advantage of the tremble, they got away and went into the forest, but in the confusion the knights got separated from the rest of them.

Arthur was helping Rodor walk, but even then the pace wasn't fast enough to outrun Odin's men, and Rodor knew it.

"Leave me," he said.

"That's not going to happen," Arthur replied.

"Please, leave me, save Mithian."

Arthur knew that they all would be caught if they didn't do something, but he wasn't going to leave King Rodor behind. "Drake, take them back to the camp, follow the ridge line," he told Dragoon.

"What about you?" Mithian asked.

"We'll lead them the other way." Arthur could see that Mithian was about to protest. "This is between me and Odin. You need no further part in this," he added in a firm voice.

Dragoon talked into Merlin's head. _"Will you be fine?"_

"_Yes, don't worry; me and Arthur fooling death has already become a usual thing,"_ Merlin answered.

Dragoon hid a smile. "Alright people, let's go," he said leading Mithian and Rodor towards one side, while Merlin and Arthur went towards the other.

.

.

.

Unfortunately, Dragoon's group hadn't advanced much when a bunch of men appeared out of the blue and surrounded them.

"So princess, you never told me," Dragoon said, "what's Nemeth's take on magic?"

"Well, we acknowledge that is a dangerous weapon, but we don't think that it automatically makes its bearer evil, or that those who use it deserve to die," she answered.

"Good."

Dragoon's eyes glowed gold and Odin's men were all pushed away by an invisible force.

"I knew it!" Mithian said, "You are a sorcerer." She looked around to see what Dragoon had done with a single look. "Why didn't you do that the first time we met?" she asked.

"Two reasons. First, I really like sword fighting; and second, I didn't know if I could trust you, me being in Camelot and all that," he explained.

"So, I take that Arthur doesn't know about you."

"He doesn't, but believe me, I mean neither him nor Camelot any harm."

"I believe you," she honestly said.

For a second he forgot where they were and he just stared at her; then the second passed. "Alright then, I was intending on doing this in secret later but since you already know," he looked straight at Rodor, "sire, would you mind if I take a look at your leg? I'm not going to be able to use the same spell that I used on your daughter, everyone already knows that you have that wound, but I can stop the pain and prevent any infection."

Rodor looked at his daughter and she nodded. "Sure, thank you," he answered.

.

.

.

Not far away from where Dragoon was healing Rodor, Odin had trapped Arthur and Merlin between his men and he decided to kill Arthur himself. He was good with the sword, but Arthur was better. Not long after they started fighting Odin was on his knees with a wound in his arm.

Arthur held his sword at Odin's throat; just one swing and this would be over. And then what? Killing him would certainly mean war between the two kingdoms. How many good men would die so he can have his revenge? Hundreds? Thousands?

"This is no answer," he said, lowering the sword.

"Finish it. Finish it and be done," Odin commanded.

"And then what? Your people will seek their revenge. My people will seek their revenge. A war without end until both kingdoms lay in ruins."

"So, what do you propose?"

"In return for your life, you must restore Rodor to the throne of Nemeth."

"Even if I agreed, it solves nothing; what about us, _Pendragon_?"

Arthur noticed the tone Odin had used to say his name, but he let it slide. "A truce. Binding our kingdoms to peace."

"Never!"

"Is this what you want? To die here, now, knowing that you condemn this land to war? We cannot let it end like this."

"You killed my son!" Odin blurted out.

"And you killed my father!" Arthur retorted. "We have both lost much at the other's hand; let us lose no more. I'm offering you the chance to end this. Take it!" He offered his hand to Odin. "Take it!" he yelled again, his voice somewhere between an order and a plea.

Odin went silent for a moment. "So be it, a truce it is," he finally said, taking Arthur's hand.

.

.

.

Already back in Camelot, Arthur was still thinking about what just happened. He actually had made peace with Odin. If the day before someone had suggested him the possibility of this happening he would have laughed in his face, and then probably have sent him to the dungeons. He went into the physician's quarters; in front of him Gaius was finishing patching up King Rodor's leg and Mithian seated right next to them.

"Your wounds are painful, sire, but superficial. You'll heal in good time," he heard Gaius said.

Dragoon had taken care of the painful part, but Rodor couldn't say anything. "Thank you, Gaius," he replied.

"Your highness," Arthur said, drawing Rodor's attention, "King Odin has withdrawn his army from Nemeth and its lands."

"All thanks to you," Mithian said.

"Well, everyone played their part." He picked a chair and sat in front of Rodor. "Your highness, we both know that Odin only attacked you because you are in allegiance with Camelot, and we still have many enemies, I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to distance from us until all this is settled."

Rodor leaned forward and placed a hand over Arthur's shoulder. "Arthur, Mithian told me that you agreed to help us without any hesitation and you endangered your own life to save mine; I can't think of a better ally than Camelot to have by our side in these dangerous times."

"Thank you, your highness." They shook hands and Arthur stood up. "As honored as I am to having you here I imagine you want to go back to Nemeth; the carriage is ready to leave whenever you are."

"I guess it's time to go then, I don't want to keep my people waiting any longer," Rodor said, standing up slowly.

They all walked towards the courtyard were Gwen, Merlin, Dragoon and the knights stood next to the carriage.

Mithian saw Dragoon standing in the crowd and she moved an inch towards him, but then stopped when she remembered her father words; there was no time to waste.

Her father knew what she was thinking. "Go talk to him my dear, we can spare five more minutes."

She looked at her father surprised, but he just nodded with a smile. She thanked him in a whisper and started to walk towards Dragoon. When she was close she found herself playing with her hands, as she did when she was nervous. She forced them to her sides and looked him in the eyes. "We must go now, but I wanted to thank you again for saving my life. You know? You should really visit Nemeth some time, we have great … pottery." _Pottery, really!?_

"Well, I can't resist a good vase," he said with a grin on his face. "I have some business in Camelot, but I promise you my lady that once I'm finished I'll pay a visit to your kingdom."

"I'll look forward to it," Mithian said with a smile. She made a small bow and went into the carriage.

Dragoon was seeing it leave when Merlin approached him.

"So, you and Mithian?" Merlin asked.

"It can't happen," Dragoon answered in a somber voice.

"Why?" he asked surprised.

"Kid, I don't age, what future could we have together? She needs someone who can walk the road of life with her, not someone who watches from the sidewalk."

"So are you telling me that you have never fallen in love?"

"Once, a long time ago; it didn't end well. I can't let it happen again," he said with sadness in his voice.

"For the record, you are doing a terrible job preventing it."

Dragoon laughed. "I know; some things are easier said than done." He kept looking at the carriage until it was out of sight and then turned to Merlin. "Let's skip training today; I think we earned a good night's rest," he said, stretching his arms in a yawn, and walked away.

.

.

.

She was sitting next to a fire, petting the white dragon's head. Had she made a mistake by not helping Odin? Had there been any chance that plan would work?

_No. As long as Arthur has Emrys on his side he is untouchable._

Morgana moved closer to the fire. She still shivered at the memory of losing her powers, courtesy of Emrys, or Dragoon the Great, as he called himself.

She still couldn't believe that she had been beaten by a crazy old man, but she took comfort in the fact that soon she'd have her revenge. Since that fateful day when she was forced out of Camelot once again, she had been gathering all the information she could get about him. It turned out that Dragoon was well known in some areas outside Camelot, however most people described him as a man around thirty and not as the old man she saw. Had he used an ageing spell? He must have, but then why use the same name? Maybe he wasn't so perfect after all.

A snort reminded her that not all that came out of that situation was bad. Next to her was Aithusa, _her_ Aithusa, her friend, her savior. If it hadn't been for the little dragon she would have died that day, but somehow she found her and healed her. Many times Morgana had asked her why she had done that, but the dragon never answered; probably something to do with the fact that she couldn't speak yet.

She looked outside the cave into the night. Soon she would find out where Emrys was. Soon she would kill him leaving Arthur at her mercy. Soon she would finally take over Camelot with no one to stop her. Soon everything would be right.

_Soon …_

* * *

_**A/N:**__ I hope you liked it!_

_So, this was something like Another's Sorrow, but without old Morgana, a stronger (and a bit shier? flirtier?) Mithian and a Not-Merlin Dragoon XD._

_And besides the first appearence of Morgana. _

_Any reviews are appreciated =D_

_**SPELLS:**_

_**Ic þe þurhhæle þin licsare mid þam sundorcræftas þære ealdaþ æ! = **__I heal you thoroughly from your mortal wound with those special powers that are ancient! Oh!_

_**Bedyrne ús! Astýre ús þanonweard! = **__Conceal us! Guide us away from here!_


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N:** Thanks SunnySmile1324 and josiah275 for the reviews =D_

_I took longer to make this chapter because I got a bit sidetracked with some other ideas, sorry for that :p_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Merlin slapped another mosquito from his arm and looked around. The recent rains had flooded several parts of the kingdom, and of course, they had to go through them. Arthur was on his horse just a few feet ahead of him, and Merlin could swear he was smiling. "Arthur, tell me again, why are we doing this?"

"Oh, come on Merlin, cheer up! We are on a quest to find the perfect gift for Guinevere, what could be more exciting?" Arthur asked cheerfully.

"What, indeed. But I was just wondering why can't you give Gwen some jewelry like most kings would do? I think she'll like that."

Arthur squinted his eyes. "You are just saying that because you want to go back, aren't you?"

Merlin made a grin. "Maybe…"

"Merlin, jewelry is fine, but this is our first anniversary, it has to be perfect."

"And what's more perfect than the Flower of Destiny?" Merlin asked, sarcastically.

"Exactly!" Arthur replied, completely missing the sarcasm in Merlin's voice.

Merlin rolled his eyes. Only Arthur could come up with a way to make getting a gift dangerous. But he was right about one thing; it was perfect. The Flower of Destiny, a flower which shines with the love of those who first hold her, maybe a bit corny, but perfect nonetheless. And of course, the flower didn't just grow in the gardens of Camelot. No. It grew in a clearing far away, which to reach you had to go through many places with names like 'The Liar's Lake', 'The Demon's Den', 'The Victim's Valley' and so on. Merlin really hoped that they were just names.

"So Merlin, tell me, do you fancy anyone?" Arthur asked out of nowhere, making Merlin almost fall off his horse.

"I won't answer that!" Merlin protested.

"Oh, come on Merlin, we are friends, you can tell me."

"Last time I checked friends don't have to wash each other's clothes."

"Well, we are friends with benefits," Arthur said.

"Unilateral benefits," Merlin clarified.

"Of course. I'm the king, after all."

"Clotpole."

Arthur let out a small laugh. "Come on tell me."

"If you must absolutely know—"

"I must."

"No one right now," Merlin continued.

"We have to find you someone, it makes life much better."

Merlin was really happy for his friends, but sometimes they could get really annoying with the 'as someone who is in love' talks. "You really love Gwen, don't you?" Merlin asked, knowing the answer.

"With all my heart," Arthur answered honestly.

Merlin sighed in surrender. "Well, come on then, let's find her a flower."

.

.

.

"Arthur, are you sure there is no other way?" Merlin asked. In front of him a vast forest stretched out as far as he could see.

"Why Merlin, are you afraid?"

"A little bit; you've heard the legends."

"And that's all they are, legends."

"Yeah, but how many legends had tried to kill us already?"

Arthur pondered about that for a bit. "I tell you what; if the forest tries to kill us I owe you a drink."

"Deal."

They slowly made their way into the forest. Merlin felt magic all around them and he could swear that the trees were moving. He shook his head, it was just his imagination. They had been riding for almost an hour when Arthur burst into laughter.

Merlin looked around. "What is it?" he asked.

"Sorry, I just remembered this one time when Morgana spent the entire afternoon chasing a bunny through the forest. You should have seen her afterwards; she was covered in mud from head to toe. I think all of Camelot heard Uther's screams when he saw her."

For a second there Arthur had actually forgotten all the evil things she had done. "She was always kind, and just. What happened to make her so twisted?" he asked to no one in particular, tears started to forming in his eyes. "I could have saved her."

"It's not your fault," Merlin told him, "there were other's better placed to help Morgana."

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked, confused.

"Well, I—" Merlin stopped talking when he felt a pinch in his neck. "Did you feel that?"

"Feel wh—" Arthur's hand went to his neck. "What was that?"

Merlin was struggling to keep his eyes opened. "Arthur, why are there two of you?" he asked, before falling from his horse.

"Merlin!" Arthur yelled. He went down from his horse and started moving towards him, but after only two steps his legs gave out and he fell to the ground.

Merlin's head hurt like hell. He tried to move, but he couldn't. He saw the trees bending towards them, getting closer by the second. He was too tired to keep his eyes opened. He started to close them when he heard a voice behind the trees. "There are people here," it said. Merlin tried to call for help, but he couldn't make a sound. Not long after, some people were standing next to him. "Take them back to camp before is too late," he heard one of them said and then everything went black.

.

.

.

"_Hello Emrys._"

Merlin woke up after hearing that voice in his head. He looked around; he was in some kind of tent, a young man standing in front of him. "Who are you?" Merlin asked.

"Don't you recognize me?" the other asked incredulously, "You saved my life, then tried to kill me, then saved my life, then tried to kill me; I thought that you of all people would remember me," he said, showing a grin.

"Mordred!" Merlin realized. It had been a long time since he saw him last and in those years the boy had grown up so much that it was almost like he was another person.

"The one and only," he said, making a small bow.

Merlin tried to jump out of bed, but he felt dizzy and fell back to it; whatever happened to them had taken a toll. "What did you do with Arthur!? Where is he!?" Merlin asked, raising his voice.

"Don't worry Emrys, he's resting in a tent next to this one. He'll be fine, but it will take a bit longer for him to repeal the poison."

"Poison?" Merlin asked, confused.

Mordred pointed to a bowl next to Merlin where some needle-like things rested. "We removed those from your neck. The trees in this forest are more alive than most, and they don't like intruders; luckily for you we found you before it was too late."

"Why did you help us?"

"Why wouldn't I? I owed Arthur my life."

"And what about me?"

Mordred was starting to answer when he suddenly looked away. From his face Merlin knew that he was talking telepathically. After some time he finally looked back at Merlin. "We'll talk about that later, Iseldir tells me that Arthur is awake."

Merlin stood up again, slowly this time, and followed Mordred out of his tent and into Arthur's.

"Get away from me! Where am I? I demand you to answer," Arthur was yelling at some druids when Merlin entered.

"Merlin! What's happening here?" He asked him.

"Arthur, is all right, we are in a druid camp, they saved our lives."

"What happened? I remember us riding through the forest and then… nothing."

"Well, remember the legends? Let's just say you owe me a drink," Merlin said, grinning.

Merlin noticed that Arthur was looking past him at the young men who just entered the tent. "Arthur, this is—"

"Mordred!" Arthur interrupted him. "Look at you! You are already a man," he said, grabbing him by the shoulders.

"It's nice to see you too Arthur," he told him, showing a smile.

"So, you saved our lives?"

"Well, I had help from the other druids. Speaking of which, whenever you are ready, the elders would like to have a word with you." Mordred could see Arthur frowning. "Don't worry, it's mostly curiosity; it's not every day we have Arthur Pendragon in our camp, you can bring Merlin along if that helps."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure Merlin would be _very_ useful in there," Arthur said, containing a laugh.

"Prat," Merlin said, looking away from him.

Arthur's answer was interrupted by Mordred's laughter. "It's great to see your relationship hasn't changed."

Arthur shuddered at the word 'relationship'. "Whatever," he said, "let's just go meet these elders, shall we?" Arthur started walking and he realized that he was moving too easily. He brought his hand to his chest. "Where is my armor?" Now the hand went to his waist. "Where is my sword!?"

"All your belongings are safe and they'll be returned to you when you leave this camp, but for now you won't be needing them," Mordred told him. He could see that Arthur didn't like that at all. "Arthur, if we wanted you dead we wouldn't have saved your life, now would we?"

Arthur nodded in resignation and followed Mordred and Merlin out the tent. Around them Arthur could see next to fifty druids, all looking at them. He noticed something strange in the crowd.

"Is everything all right?" Mordred asked.

"Yes it's just…" Arthur looked around once again. " Is this some kind of group for young druids?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it seems like the oldest of them is around thirty years old."

Mordred stopped and turned around to face Arthur. "Most of the druids who survived the purge were a child at that time; luckily for us there weren't many knights who killed children in cold blood."

Arthur went pale, cursing himself for his stupidity. "I'm sorry," he said, knowing that it meant nothing next to the pain his family put them through.

Mordred just turned around and started to walk again. "Let's go, we shouldn't keep them waiting," he told them.

Arthur followed and looked around once again. Every single one of those druids had lost someone because of his father's crusade against magic. He had many questions in his mind, but one stood out the most: _Why am I not dead?_

When they reached the elder's tent, Mordred made them wait outside for a few minutes before he appeared again and lead them inside. The tent was a larger version of the one he woke up in; three older druids were sitting on pillows, facing them.

The one in the middle spoke first. "Arthur Pendragon, Merlin, please sit," he told them, indicating two empty pillows on the ground.

Arthur thought to see a smile on the druid's face when he mentioned Merlin's name, but he dismissed that idea. He and Merlin sat down, while Mordred made a bow and left the tent.

"You have us at a disadvantage," Arthur said, "you know our names but we don't know yours."

"Fair enough," the same druid replied, "I'm Lochru and this is Frigga", he said indicating the female druid at his left. "I think that you already know Iseldir." To Lochru's right, Arthur could see the same druid to whom he had brought Mordred a long time ago, and who had given him the cup of life.

"I know him, but I didn't know his name."

"You never asked," Iseldir told him.

"Mordred tells us that you are already feeling better," Frigga said.

"We are and we are grateful," Arthur said, "but I have to ask; why are you helping _us_?"

Lochru was the one to answer. "As druids we are bound to help those in need, no matter who they are." He sighed before continuing. "However, I have to be frank with you; many disagreed with helping you. I'm very ashamed of this, but in these chaotic times it's hard for the young to see what being a druid really means."

"But the druids aren't persecuted anymore; didn't that help?" Arthur asked.

"It did, but I'm afraid it's not enough. Historically the druids got their food in exchange for magical services, as healing or potions, but with the ban on magic still in force we have almost nothing to trade with, which makes our lives very hard. Lately it has become very common for many of us to eat every other day."

"I'm sorry."

"We druids have a saying: right actions in the future are the best apologies for bad actions in the past."

The room was filled with silence. "So what now?" Arthur asked after some time.

"It's already late; stay with us tonight and tomorrow you can continue your journey well rested."

"Should we worry about the other druids?"

"You are Mordred's guests; as long you are in this camp you are safe. When you leave… well, I would like to tell you that none of my druids wish you ill, but we both know that it would be a lie."

The druids stood up and they followed suit. "Again, thank you," Arthur said, before moving for the exit.

They left the tent and they approached Mordred who was talking with a girl. When he saw them, he took the girl by her hand and faced them. "Arthur, I hope it went well." After Arthur nodded he continued. "This is Kara," he said nodding at the girl beside him, "she is my girlfriend."

Arthur raised his eyebrows at Mordred for a moment and then looked at the girl. "It's nice to meet you Kara," he told her, showing her a smile.

"Don't think you can sweet talk me into forgiving you, Pendragon!" she blurted out. "Yes, you've saved Mordred and I would always be grateful for that, but you and your family are responsible for many atrocities to our people and I won't let that go unpunished." He stared at Merlin. "And you, you should be ashamed of helping him!" she told Merlin, after which she turned around and strode away.

They all stood there in shock. "She is very… passionate," Arthur finally said.

"Please forgive her; she had lost much in this war," Mordred explained.

"And just today Arthur was telling me how having a girlfriend makes life much better," Merlin said, trying to lighten the mood.

"He's right actually," Mordred said, "if you get to really know her she's a really nice person, sweet and caring. "

"See, I told you," Arthur said. "It's decided then; the first thing I'll do when we are back in Camelot is setting you up with someone, Sefa maybe?"

Mordred saw Merlin blush and he let out a small laugh. "You know," he told Merlin, "after my time in Camelot, I thought you would end up with Morgana."

"WHAT!?" Arthur and Merlin asked in shock at the same time.

Arthur spoke again before Mordred could say a word. "Merlin and Morgana, what on earth do they have in common?" he asked.

Mordred could see Merlin staring at him. He cleared his throat. "Nothing, of course, you are right. I was just a boy at the time; I didn't understand anything about relationships." Mordred looked past them to a group of druids that were gathering near a bonfire. "It looks like it's dinner time, shall we?" he asked, showing the way.

They sat in a log around the bonfire and Arthur could feel all the eyes on him. Mordred had left to get food and so he was left alone with Merlin who was looking straight into the fire. "You have been very quiet Merlin, is everything all right?" Arthur asked him.

"Yes, I was just thinking."

"Careful there, wouldn't want your head exploding."

Merlin chuckled. "Arthur, you are _so_ funny!" he said.

"I know," Arthur replied, proudly.

Merlin wondered if Arthur grasped the concept of sarcasm, but before he could say anything, Mordred came back carrying two plates full of food.

"Mordred, the elders told me of your food shortage, I can't accept this," Arthur said.

"You are guests here, and besides, it's impolite to refuse the food offered to you."

Arthur remained silent for a bit. "All right then, tell the elders that I accept it and that I'm grateful for it; however, that doesn't mean I have to eat it myself." Arthur stood up and looked around. He signaled Merlin to follow and they walked towards a group of kids who sat near them.

Reacting to that, some druids stood up and started moving towards them, but Mordred shook his head stopping them. _"Watch,"_ he told them telepathically. They all saw as Arthur and Merlin shared their food with the druid kids, and Mordred couldn't help but smile.

It wasn't until Arthur and Merlin went back to their log that the druids sat down again.

"Now we can eat," Arthur told Mordred, showing a grin.

Arthur was eating while Merlin spoke inside Mordred's mind. _"You know Mordred, that felt an awful lot like a test."_

"_Did it Emrys? I didn't notice,"_ Mordred replied, a smirk in his face.

Merlin returned the smirk and continued to eat. From that point on, the night went swiftly and it wasn't long until they were asleep, resting for what tomorrow may bring.

* * *

_**A/N:** Some clarifications:_

_The term 'friends with benefits' didn't exist in those times, so unfortunately neither Arthur nor Merlin got the joke.  
_

_The phrase that Lochru says isn't mine (nor his). It's from Tryon Edwards.  
_

_Also in this chapter we've learned that Mordred ships Mergana; who would have guessed?  
_

_The next chapter will have some more Merlin / Mordred talk about the past and all that :p  
_


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N:**__ Thanks SunnySmile1324 , QueenKordeilia, sdsmile and The PhantomHokage for the reviews =D_

_I decided to split this chapter in two (7 and 8) so I could submit this part today. The good news is that I have most of the other part already written so it shouldn't take too long for me to submit the next chapter._

_I'll answer the questions in the reviews after the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Arthur took point, while the other two followed behind. He had been surprised when Mordred offered to go with them, but he had accepted. Besides, according to him, if they didn't have a druid with them, the trees would attack them again the moment they left camp and he had already been poisoned enough for two lifetimes.

Merlin was thinking about Mordred, remembering what Kilgharrah had told him long ago; as long as Mordred lives he cannot fulfill his destiny. According to the dragon Mordred was destined to kill Arthur, destroying forever any chance of peace between magical and non-magical beings. However that wasn't the only voice in his head. He also remembered Dragoon's words; prophecies are not set in stone and sometimes what you do to prevent a vision is exactly what makes it happen. Ultimately, what had Mordred actually done? Sure, he had been with Alvarr when they convinced Morgana to steal the Crystal of Neahtid, but it had probably been Alvarr's idea; and yes, he had killed some knights, but it had been in self-defense. Why had he saved Arthur if he was destined to kill him?

In Mordred's case, he was trying hard not to smile; he was actually going on a quest with Arthur and Emrys! How many times had he dreamt of this? This was almost perfect. Almost… Why did Emrys keep looking at him like he had done something bad?

Arthur moved his horse next to the druid. "So Mordred, what have you been up to all this years?" he asked.

Mordred pondered where to start. "Well, after you left me with Iseldir, he took me to a druid camp that was led by a man called Aglain. He took good care of me and I was happy there, but unfortunately a year later the camp was raided. I managed to escape, but many others didn't, including Aglain."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Arthur said. "Who attacked you?"

Mordred looked at Merlin and then back at Arthur. "A group of bandits, probably looking for something of value," he answered.

Merlin knew that he was lying and he was grateful to him for that. He still remembered when Arthur and his men had attacked that camp, looking for Morgana who they thought had been kidnapped, when in reality she had been there seeking help with her magic. He felt guilty. In more than one way the raid had been his own fault; he had been who sent Morgana to the druid camp and he had been the one Arthur's men followed to reach it. He still had nightmares about that day.

"Anyway," Mordred continued, "after that, I spent some time living in the forest, hiding from the bandits. I still don't know how many days I was there, but I know that I would have died if it wasn't for another druid who found me. However, this was also my doom, because the fact that he had saved my life blinded me to his true intentions. He didn't care for me; he only cared for my powers. Unfortunately I didn't realize this until after I helped him do some things that I'm not proud of."

Mordred looked at Arthur and then down to the ground. "The druid's name was Alvarr; he's the one who stole the Crystal of Neahtid and I helped him; I'm sorry, I really, really am."

Mordred looked away, waiting for a scolding that never came; instead he felt Arthur's hand on his shoulder.

"Mordred, it's fine. You were just a kid; it wasn't your fault," Arthur said.

Mordred looked at him wide-eyed. "You forgive me?"

"Of course," Arthur answered with a smile.

Mordred's face lighted up. "You have no idea what that means to me, thank you," he said.

Arthur nodded in acknowledgment. "So, what happened next?"

"Where was I? Oh yes, Alvarr… When you captured him I was hiding nearby; I knew that he would escape, so I stayed in the camp waiting for him to come back. After two days I heard he had fled from Camelot's prison and I started to get ready for when he arrived." Mordred took a deep breath. "I waited him for a week before realizing he wasn't going to come back for me. That's when I understood his true nature; he didn't have any more use for me, so he left me behind.

"Once again I was alone, everyone who I ever cared for were dead or had betrayed me. I didn't know what to do, so… I did nothing." He looked down again, ashamed of how easily he had given up. However, he reminded himself that not everything about that time had been bad; he had met her. "The next thing I remember is Kara kissing me," Mordred said, blushing slightly.

Both Arthur and Merlin stopped their horses and looked at him. "Wait, what?" Arthur asked.

The confusion in their faces made Mordred laugh. "Is a druid healing technique that's used on people who are very weak; you could say she breathed life into me."

"So, you weren't actually dead?" Arthur asked.

"No," Mordred answered, "if I were, there was nothing she could have done. The only way to bring someone back from the dead is using the Cup of Life, but as druids we are forbidden to do so; the cost is too high."

Arthur was surprised to learn that the druids didn't use the cup that way. "How high?" he asked.

Mordred looked at the sky and started reciting a small poem that Lochru had taught him:

"_A life for a life, a soul for a soul;  
the balance of the world must be kept.  
An exchange of two bound by love;  
that's the price one must accept."_

Now it was Merlin's turn to be confused. "Bound by love?" he asked.

"Yes, you can't use just anyone's life to resurrect someone; it has to be someone he loved in his life, or at least someone he cared for. You see why we forbade its use; it's just too cruel for one to live knowing that you are responsible for the death of someone you loved," Mordred said.

Merlin's mind went to the time when he had used the cup to save Arthur's life. His mother's life was the price to save Arthur, and Gaius' life the price to save her, and that made sense. However, if what Mordred said was true, how could had he used Nimueh's life to save Gaius? He would have to ask Gaius about this later.

"Moving on," Mordred continued, "luckily for me I wasn't dead, so she saved me and brought me to Lochru's camp. At first it was hard, I didn't trust anybody anymore, but they were very good to me and after some time I gave them a chance. Like you already saw, eventually I became part of their camp and now I'm really happy there."

"And you got yourself a girlfriend," Arthur added, smirking.

Mordred blushed again and cleared his throat. "We shouldn't be far now," he said, changing the subject, "according to the elders, the flower grows in a garden just across that swamp."

"Oh, do you mean _just_ across that unbelievable large swamp?" Merlin asked.

"Don't pay him any attention," Arthur told Mordred, "he just likes to complain."

"Prat," Merlin said.

Arthur pretended he didn't listen. "Think it like this Merlin," he said, "the sooner we go in there, the sooner we are back in Camelot."

"And then I'll have to clean that swamp off your armor, _I can't wait_!" Merlin said, sarcastically.

Arthur could see that Merlin had a point there. "Alright then, I'll tell you what, if you reach the swamp before me I'll give you one day off."

"Really?" Merlin asked.

Arthur nodded and extended his hand towards Merlin, who shook it firmly.

.

.

.

It had been half an hour since they finished crossing the swamp, and Merlin was still trying to get the stench out of his nose. Even then he was smiling; he had won the race, and with that, a day off. Maybe it wasn't his best idea using magic to make his horse go faster, but a day off was a day off.

"I still can't believe that I was beaten by _Merlin_," Arthur said, remarking his name.

"You can't win them all Arthur," Merlin said.

"I usually do," Arthur replied.

Merlin let out a small laugh and shook his head in amusement.

"Here we are, the Grim Gardens," Mordred told the others.

Up ahead, Merlin could see a narrow road surrounded by some strange flowers, which were definitely not the Flower of Destiny. They looked like a sunflower with big black petals and a red core, and they reached almost six feet tall, making hard to see where the road led. "Arthur, would it be too much to ask that once in a while we go somewhere with a friendlier name? Like the Great Gardens or the Gleaming Gardens, for instance," Merlin asked.

"But there is nothing exciting about those places," Arthur protested.

"Exactly…"

"Come on Merlin, don't be such a girl," Arthur said, smiling, and looked at the druid. "Mordred, any insights on what we'll found?"

"I've never gone in there, but I've heard a legend about this place. It seems that a long time ago there was a big battle here, which led to countless deaths. The legend says that the bodies of those who died were swallowed by the ground and that the rage and hatred in those men arise to the surface in the form of the flowers we see now. It's said that there is one flower for every man who was slain here."

"Did you hear that Arthur?" Merlin asked, sarcastically. "Legends!"

"Oh, we'll be fine," Arthur replied. "One thing I don't get though; why is something like the Flower of Destiny in a place like this?"

"I was getting there," Mordred said. "After seeing all the death, the rulers of the battling kingdoms decided that it was enough and they accepted to sign a peace treaty. To remind themselves of what this war cost to their people, they decided to sign it in the middle of this battlefield. According to the stories, there is a clearing where they signed the treaty, and in the middle of it a lonely flower…"

"The Flower of Destiny," Merlin finished for him.

"Exactly," Mordred said.

Arthur nodded and looked ahead. "The path is too narrow for the horses; we'll have to walk the rest of the way."

Merlin was about to protest when Arthur's deathly stare stopped him. He got down from his horse and started to follow Arthur who was already entering the path with his sword unsheathed.

"At least try not to cut anything unless it's absolutely necessary," Merlin told Arthur, knowing of his habits of using his sword first and asking questions later.

"Merlin, I'm the king; you can't tell me what to do," Arthur replied, expecting some comeback from Merlin; however, when some time passed and Merlin hadn't insulted him in return, he knew he had gone too far. "I'll try," he added.

.

.

.

It took them almost an hour to reach the end of the path, and like Mordred had said, in front of them stood a small clearing with a flower in the center. It was the size of a normal rose, but it looked like it was made of crystal.

"There it is! The Flower of Destiny…" Arthur said and started walking towards it.

Merlin followed behind. "Remember, you have to be careful with the roots," he said.

"I know Merlin, I know," Arthur said. After some careful digging he picked the flower and placed it in a special pouch he had brought with him.

"Well, that was easy," Mordred said.

Both Merlin and Arthur suddenly turned to face him. "Don't say that!" Merlin yelled at him. "Rule number one of questing is never saying things like 'that was easy', 'it could have been worse', 'is that it?', and so on."

"Why?" Mordred asked, confused.

Arthur was the one to respond. "Well, it seems that every time someone says something like that—"

Suddenly he was interrupted by a loud noise coming from all around them. The floor started cracking and several skeleton hands broke through the ground, which were, unfortunately for them, followed by the rest of the skeleton.

"That happens," Arthur finished pointing at the skeletons coming at them. "So, Merlin, do you think I can use my sword now?" he asked.

"I think this qualifies as 'absolutely necessary'," Merlin answered.

"Good, get ready then, and aim for the head! The limbs still attack you even if they are unattached," Arthur said, remembering the skeleton attack on Camelot.

Arthur engaged the first skeleton, and he was ready for a great fight when the skeleton practically exploded at the touch of his sword. "Alright, that's new," he said, looking at his sword in surprise.

He destroyed two more before turning to see how the others were doing. He saw Mordred using a spell that summoned vines from the ground which wrapped themselves around the skeletons, making them an easy target for Mordred's sword. Arthur felt weird fighting alongside someone with magic, but right now he had no choice. He looked to the other side of the clearing and to his surprise Merlin had already killed two skeletons and was fighting a third one. When did the boy who couldn't catch a mace learn to fight like that?

Since there were no more skeletons in his side he moved next to Merlin to stop the skeletons from flanking him.

"You are getting good Merlin!" Arthur said, watching as Merlin embedded his sword in the skeleton's skull, making it collapse to the ground.

"Thanks, I've been practicing," Merlin replied.

A few sword swings later, Arthur and Merlin were fighting alongside Mordred the last skeletons remaining, which didn't last long.

Mordred walked slowly to a rock nearby and sat trying to catch his breath. "I'm glad that's over," he said.

Arthur and Merlin looked at him again. "Didn't you learn anything?" Merlin asked him.

"Oh, come on Em— Merlin, there is no way that saying some words can make something bad happen", Mordred said, smiling. Since they just kept staring at him he began to grow nervous and started looking around. "Right?" he asked.

As if answering his question the ground began to tremble again, and this time stronger than before. It felt like the whole garden was breaking apart, and from the number of skeletons that was coming towards them, it probably was.

The three of them stood in the middle of the clearing, back against back. "Any ideas?" Arthur asked.

"_Mordred, tell Arthur to raise his sword and close his eyes_," Merlin told Mordred telepathically.

Mordred looked at him asking him for an explanation, but Merlin only gave him a 'just do it' look.

There wasn't time to waste arguing. "Arthur," Mordred said, "I have a plan, but I need you to raise your sword and close your eyes."

"Why? Are you going to use magic?" Arthur asked.

"I think so…" Mordred answered and glanced at Merlin. "Yes," he added seeing Merlin nod discreetly.

Arthur was torn. If he did as Mordred said, he would be, in a way, using magic himself, which he had promised himself never to do again after what happened with his father. However, if he didn't do what Mordred had said, they would very likely be skeleton food in no time. Alright, maybe it wasn't that hard of a choice after all. Arthur looked at Merlin who nodded in agreement, and then did as he had been told.

The second Arthur closed his eyes (which wasn't actually part of the spell) Merlin positioned himself in front of him, stretched his hand towards the sword and his eyes began to glow. Casting silent spells like this was twice as hard, but his training with Dragoon this last two weeks had paid up.

Mordred looked at the scene with wide eyes. He had already seen Merlin doing magic, but this was the first time he had actually seen _Emrys_, the man who was destined to be most powerful sorcerer who had ever lived. He could feel the power of the spell in the air, and the fact that he was doing it without speaking the words made everything more unbelievable; even Lochru himself would have trouble pulling this off.

Merlin finished the spell and Arthur's sword began to glow with a golden light. Merlin looked around and saw that the skeletons were just a few feet away from them. "Arthur! Thrust the sword into the ground! Now!" Merlin yelled at him.

Arthur opened back his eyes, grabbed his sword with both hands and plunged it down. When the sword touched the ground its golden light started to spread along the cracks until every one of them was also glowing gold. The three of them watched as the light grew brighter and brighter, until they could no longer see behind the clearing. An explosion of light forced them to close their eyes and when they opened them a lot of things had changed. There was no light, no skeletons, no cracks in the ground, and no black and red flowers. Instead, they were surrounded by a garden of normal sunflowers looking at the sun.

"I think they'll have to change the name of this place," Merlin said, jokingly.

"What do you think of the Golden Gardens?" Mordred asked.

Merlin looked around. "It certainly fits," he answered.

"See Merlin," Arthur said, "your wish has been fulfilled; we are in a place with a friendlier name."

Merlin chuckled. "Not exactly what I had in mind, but I guess it's better than nothing."

"That's the spirit, now let's get out of here before Mordred opens his mouth again," Arthur said.

"Hey!" Mordred protested.

Arthur smiled at him. "I'm just kidding; if it weren't for you we would probably be dead by now, what was that light?"

"Oh, the light… Yeah… It was… It was… a spell to banish the undead," Mordred guessed.

"It seemed pretty powerful, where did you learn it?" Arthur asked.

Mordred was starting to stutter when Merlin interceded. "Arthur, don't you think that we can talk about this later? It's getting late and it would be wise to get to the druid's camp before nightfall."

"You are right, sorry, I was just curious; let's get going then," Arthur said.

"_Thank you Emrys_," Mordred told Merlin telepathically.

"_No, thank you_," he replied.

On the way back Mordred was smiling; he had been on a quest with Arthur and Emrys and had fought alongside them! How many times had he dreamt of that? He looked ahead and saw Arthur hitting Emrys on the head while they both laughed. This was perfect.

* * *

_**A/N:**__ I hope you liked it!_

_So, as you can see, my take on Mordred is that he sees Arthur and Merlin as some sort of older brothers that once upon a time saved his life. Arthur reciprocates this feeling, but Merlin is a bit confused with all the prophecies stuff (more on this next chapter)._

_ SunnySmile1324: I know that I'm leaving Mergana a bit aside, but I need some background to work with afterwards XD. The next chapter will have a flashback of sorts with Morgana and I think she'll appear in 'real time' two chapters after that._


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